Road Trip Wednesday: September’s Best

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question. This Week’s Topic: What was the best book you read in September?

This one’s easy: MY LIFE NEXT DOOR by Huntley Fitzpatrick. I went to Half-Price Books on a humbug (as I’m wont to do) and there it was in all its secret-crush cover glory. I snatched it up immediately!

From Amazon:

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase’s family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

I love books about summer and I especially love books about summer romance. This one delivers with rich characters, amazing voice, messy family drama, heart-wrenching conflict, and enough swoon-worthy moments between Samantha and Jase to make you wish summer lasted forever.

One of my favorite bits:

‘What am I doing here with you?” I ask.

‘What?’

‘I hardly know you. You could be some serial killer, luring me out to a deserted lake.’

Jase laughs and lies down on the dock on his back, folding his arms behind his head. ‘Nah, I’m not. And you can tell.’

‘How can I tell?’ I smile at him, lying down beside him, our hips nearly touching. ‘The whole happy-family-Mr.-Nice-Guy bit could be a cover.’

‘No, because of instinct. You can tell who to trust. People can, just like animals. We don’t listen as well as they do, always, but it’s still there. That prickling feeling when something’s not right. That calm feeling when it is.’ His voice is low and husky in the darkness.

‘Jase?’

‘Mmm-hmm?’ He lifts up on one elbow, his face barely visible in the twilight.